1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a syringe container for containing a plurality of syringes.
2. Background Art
Conventionally, a syringe container that can hold a plurality of syringes upright is used when transporting or storing syringes before the syringes are filled with liquid medicines. Such a syringe container is configured with a box-shaped container body with an opened top and a syringe holding section that can hold a plurality of syringes upright. Inside the container body, a ledge-like section is provided to support the syringe holding section. The syringe holding section is configured with a plate-like member having a plurality of through-holes. The syringe is inserted in the through-hole and the flange section provided on the end portion of the syringe is placed on the rim of the through-hole. The syringe is thereby held in the syringe holding section. Using such a syringe container, a plurality of syringes can be held upright with filling ports for liquid medicine of the syringes facing upward.
Generally, if syringes and liquid medicines are produced by different companies, the syringe container is produced by the company producing syringes and shipped to the company producing liquid medicines. Liquid medicines are filled in syringes in the company producing liquid medicines. The company manufacturing syringes can use the aforementioned syringe container to store and transport a plurality of syringes at the same time. The company producing liquid medicines can simply take out the syringe holding section holding a plurality of syringes from the container and set them in an apparatus for filling liquid medicines. This makes the operation of filling liquid medicines into syringes efficient.
Such a known container is discussed in WO 2008/107961 A. The medical container discussed in WO 2008/107961 A includes a box-like container body with an opened top, a plate-like holding unit provided inside the container body, and a plurality of cylindrical holding sections formed in the holding unit.
When containing an injection sleeve with a cap thereon in the medical container, the flange section of the injection cylinder abuts the holding unit as the injection cylinder advances in the sleeve hole of the holding unit. The injection cylinder is thus held in the holding unit and contained in the container body.
A conventional syringe including a Luer lock that connects the distal end of a syringe (injection cylinder) and a cap (nozzle cap) or a needle holding member that holds an injection needle and a thread is known. When a cap to be attached to a Luer-lock syringe having a small diameter and a small injection volume, for example, 0.5 milliliters (ml), is formed with an outer diameter equal to the outer diameter of the syringe body, the cap diameter also becomes small, which makes it difficult to rotate the cap to remove.
To solve such problem, the cap can be formed with an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the syringe body.
If a syringe attached with a cap having an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the syringe body is contained in the medical container discussed in WO 2008/107961 A, the difference between the diameter of the sleeve hole of the holding unit and the outer diameter of the cap becomes small.
As for a typical medicine, particularly for protein preparations such as vaccines, the protein preparation is filled in the syringe contained in the medical container. The syringe is checked for shipping and then transferred to a packing line. Since the preparation cannot be stored under room temperature, the preparation is generally stored in a refrigerator until checked for shipping. In order to efficiently transfer the syringes filled with medicine to the packing line and to efficiently store the syringes in the refrigerator, the syringes are lined up in one direction in a rondo tray and stacked to be stored. To line up the syringes in the rondo tray, the syringes are quickly pulled out vertically by an automatic holding unit pull-out machine.
When the degree of shift between the center axis of the syringe held in the holding unit and the center axis of the sleeve hole is large, the cap may abut the inner rim of the holding section forming the through-hole when the syringe is pulled out. When the syringe is further pulled out with the cap abutting the holding section, the holding unit may rise with the syringe.
Then when the holding unit and the cap make relative motions and release each other, the holding unit falls and makes vibration which might cause other syringes held in the holding unit to come out of the sleeve hole of the holding section. When a syringe comes out of the sleeve hole of the holding section, the liquid filled in the syringe may spill out of the syringe or the syringe may be damaged.